New study links autism and pollution

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Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50% more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health Services.

The new findings, which surprised the researchers, suggest that a mother's exposure to industrial air pollutants while pregnant might increase her child's risk of autism, a neurological condition increasingly diagnosed in the last 10 years.

The article goes on to state the usual caveat about more study being needed, but this certainly adds fodder to the autism and mercury debate, especially considering that few people can claim the California Dept. of Health Services has an interest in skewing the research.